The market this morning

Senate Democrat demands Tether records over payments to firm tied to former White House crypto adviser

By Crypto Info News

Good morning. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the Democratic ranking member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, has asked Tether for records related to payments to Nxum, a firm co-owned by former White House crypto adviser Bo Hines. Decrypt reported that Blumenthal demanded Tether's records on the payments. The Block reported that he is seeking answers following reports that Tether paid millions to the firm. Cointelegraph reported that the senator asked Paolo Ardoino for records tied to the reported deal. The three accounts describe the same inquiry into the same firm.

Days before Israel's election, Netanyahu said he has asked for a blockchain plan in case the country's banks are hit with sanctions. Decrypt reported that he told Israelis to prepare for a rainy day after Trump. The Block reported that Netanyahu said blockchain could help Israel prepare for possible sanctions targeting its banking system.

Regulators were active elsewhere. Cointelegraph reported that Wells Fargo and five other companies filed objections to tokenized stock listings proposed by the OKX-ICE joint venture, with 22 companies objecting as of Friday under the SEC's innovation exemption. Decrypt reported that the SEC's Division of Examinations named "super intelligence and other advanced technologies" and tokenization as focus areas. Cointelegraph, citing Forbes, reported that the IRS plans lower disclosure penalties, including for crypto, under a program overhaul. DL News reported that the Bank of Russia cleared 17 crypto exchangers, including Sberbank and VTB, as both banks ready retail trading by 1 December.

On security, Cointelegraph reported that Initia halted its layer-1 network and rollups after an exploit that reportedly drained over $2.6 million, citing unauthorized token minting. The Block reported onchain data showing a $2.7 million ether transfer as Initia investigates. Separately, Decrypt reported that Bitcoin Core rewrote its security policy to backport fixes and cut releases immediately for flaws flagged as "easily discoverable."

In markets, CoinDesk reported that Robinhood's head of futures and prediction markets said bitcoin, gold and oil contracts are among its fastest-growing prediction markets. Glassnode published a joint report with Fasanara Digital on Q4 2026 institutional market perspectives.

Prices were little changed. Bitcoin closed at $81,102.31, down 0.28% on the day, and Ether at $2,384.75, down 0.07%.